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Bulls knock off Purple Eagles

By WKBW News

Bulls knock off Purple Eagles

December 9, 2010 Updated Dec 9, 2010 at 12:49 AM EDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW.com/Niagara University) The Niagara men's basketball team had an 82-64 setback at cross-town rival, the Buffalo Bulls, on Wednesday night at Alumni Arena. Junior forward Kashief Edwards led the Purple Eagles with 18 points and seven rebounds, while senior Anthony Nelson dished out a season-high 10 assists.



"We are still learning on the job and have a long way to go," head coach Joe Mihalich said. "I believe we are going to get better and hopefully make some noise at the end of February."



A couple of key possessions titled in favor of the host as Niagara (2-7) dropped its first game at UB (5-3) since 2006. The Bulls used a late first half spurt to take a 41-30 halftime lead. UB shot 58 percent from the field and connected on four out of nine 3-pointers.



In the second half, NU cut the lead to 51-43 after a three-point play by Kevon Moore with 15 minutes remaining, but UB went on a 12-2 over the next seven minutes. UB's Byron Mulkey made six straight free throws to extend the Bulls lead to 75-55 with under three minutes remaining to halt an attempted NU run. Mulkey led all scorers with 19 points.



Edwards was NU's key source for points tonight; he was the only Purple Eagle to score in double-figures and has done so in seven out of nine games this season. Nelson was one point away from a double-double (nine points, 10 assists) and recorded his third most assists in his career. The rest of the scoring was distributed to Skylar Jones with nine points, Scooter Gillette with eight points, Moore with seven and Eric Williams with six points.



Niagara will play at another rival this Saturday when it tangles with St. Bonaventure for a 4 p.m. tip

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